Shower curtain assembly



June 24, 1958 M. L. STERN SHOWER CURTAIN ASSEMBLY Filed April 2, 1957 m M w m United States Patent SHOWER CURTAIN ASSEMBLY Morton Lee Stern, Skokie, Ill.

Application April 2, 1957, Serial No. 650,198

2 Claims. (Cl. 160-124) The invention relates to new and useful improvements in curtain assemblies and more particularly to a shower curtain assembly comprised of an outside or front sheet of fabric or other suitable material and a lining or back sheet of plastic or other suitable water repellant materials, which are detachably secured together for suspension by common means from a hanger bar or the like, alongwhich they may be slidably adjusted in unison to facilitate placing of the assembly in a desired location.

Shower curtain assemblies comprised of two substantially rectangular sheets or panels usually are joined to- 1 tion of which, when considered in connection with the following description, my invention, its mode of construction, assembly and operation, andmany of its advantages should be readily understood and appreciated.

Referring to the drawings in which the same characters of reference are employed to indicate corresponding or similar parts throughout the several figures of the drawings:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view, partly broken away, showing a shower curtain embodying the features of the present invention.

' of a sheet of water-repellant material such as plastic.

gether fixedly, as by means of rows of stitches. In known 1 In the present construction, this objectionable characteristic is avoided by providing the front sheet with a plurality of mutually spaced-apart hanger straps on its upper margin or hem. These straps are adapted to be carried over the top of a hanger rod and have their free end portions detachably secured to the hem so as to provide a slideable mounting for the suspended sheet. The lining or back sheet is adapted to have its upper margin or hem detachably secured to the end portions of the straps so as to be suspended directly from said straps. The mounting of the assembly is such that the load of both sheets is carried directly by the straps as distinguished from prior known assemblies wherein the load of one sheet is carried entirely by the other sheet to which it is directly attached. The present structure also permits suspension of the outer sheet only in instances when no lining sheet is required, or when the lining has been removed for cleaning or for any other reason.

It is, therefore, an object of the invention to provide in a curtain assembly common suspension means for both curtains and of a type that distributes the load of the curtains uniformly throughout said suspension means.

Another object is to provide novel means to detachably suspend a curtain for slideable movement on a hanger.

Another object is to provide a curtain assembly composed of inner and outer sheets with novel, easily detachable means for connecting the sheets together and to means for suspending the assembly for sliding on a horizontally disposed hanger rod.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists of certain novel features of construction, arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that various changes in the form, proportion, size and minor details of the structure may be made without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

For the purpose of facilitating an understanding of my invention, I have illustrated in the accompanying drawings a preferred embodiment thereof, from an inspec- The two, sheets are substantially of the same size and they are joined together, in a manner to be described presently, so as to be easily assembled or disassembled to facilitate cleaning or laundering of the lining more frequently than the front sheet and further to protect the front sheet from the usual deleterious action of the acids of soaps and other cleaning solutions. Each of the sheets preferably are substantially rectangular in outline andthe outer sheet 11 preferably is provided on its upper margin with a ham 13 secured by rows of stitches 14. If desired, a reinforcing strip may be substituted for the hem. The fold in the hem has a plurality of mutually spaced openings 15, each to receive one end of a hanger strap 16 between the material of the hem, which strap is secured therein by either one or both rows of stitches 14.- The concealed end of the strap 16 and the inner fold of the hem 13 have permanently attached thereto a fastener element17 which, in the present disclosure, comprises a complemental part such as the socket element of a detachable snap fastener. In this manner the fastener element is concealed when the sheet 11 is viewed from the outside to thereby avoid marring the ornamental appearance of the curtain assembly.

The straps 16 are adapted to be extended over and then downwardly from a suitable hanger rod 18, or other suspension element, and the free end of each strap is secured detachably to the sheet 11 in such manner that the sheet 11 is suspended by the straps from the hanger rod 18 for sliding along said rod to position the curtain in a desired position of adjustment therealong. As is perhaps best illustrated in Fig. 2, the free end portion 16a of each strap 16 carries, inwardly of its end, a snap fastener element 19. preferably in the form of a stud part which is adapted to be detachably engaged with a complemental socket element 17 when the strap is in curtain suspension position as illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3.

The free end portion 16a of each strap 16 also carries, outwardly of the fastener element 19, another fastener part 21 which, as is best shown in Fig. 3, preferably comprises a socket element. A companion fastener part, in this instance a stud element 22, is secured to the upper margin 23 of the inside sheet 12, there being one such stud element for each socket part 21. The stud elements 22 are adapted to be detachably engaged with the respective socket parts 21 for suspending the inside sheet 12 from the free end portions 16a of the straps 16. The upper margin 23 of the inside sheet 12 may be reinforced, as for example, by folding the upper margin thereof into overlapping relation with the outwardly disposed face of the sheet 12, as at 24, or if desireda separate strip of material may be bonded or otherwise secured thereto.

It should be quite apparent that the straps 1 6 constitute toz- With this arrangement the straps 16serve to equalize the load or the two sheets 11 and 12 and the detachable mounting is such that the liner 12 may: be removed for cleaning or for any other purpose without necessitating removal of the outside sheet 11 from the suspension rod 18. v It is believed that my invention, itsmode of construc: tion andassembly, andmany of its advantages should be readily understood from the foregoing without further description, and itshould also be manifest that while a preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown and described for illustrative purposes, the structural details are nevertheless capable of wide variation within the purview of my invention as defined in the appended claims. 7

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is: a

l. A shower curtain assembly comprising a substantially rectangular front sheet, a plurality of mutually spaced flexible hanger straps each secured at one of its ends to and extending upwardly from the upper margin of said sheet, said straps being adapted to be draped over a' hanger rod, mutually spaced snap fastener elements on the back face of said margin, acomplemental snap fastener element-inwardly of the free end of each hanger strap adapted to be detachably engaged one with each fastener element on the" front sheet to retain the straps draped over the hangerrod in a looped condition, a rear sheet of substantially the same width as the front sheet, a row of similarly spaced snap fastener elementsprovided along the front face of the upper margin of the rear sheet, and snap fastener elements complemental to the fastener elements on said rear sheet mounted one on the free end portion of each strap adapted to be detachably engaged with the fastener elements on the rear sheet to secure said rear sheet to the straps for direct suspension therefrom and at a point below the fasteners securing the strapto the front sheet.

2. A curtain assembly comprising a substantially rectangular front sheet, a plurality of mutually spaced strips of flexible material each secured at one of its ends to and extending upwardly from the upper margin of said sheet, said flexible strips being adapted to be draped over a hanger rod, mutually spaced fastener elements on the back face of said margin, a complemental snap fastener element mounted on and spaced inwardly of the free end of each strip adapted to be detachably engaged one with each fastener element on the front sheet to retain the strips draped over the hanger rod in a looped condition and to suspend the front sheet therefrom, a rear sheet, a row of similarly spaced snap fastener elements mounted on the front face of the upper margin of the rear sheet, and snap fastener elements complemental to the fastener elements on said rear sheet mounted one on the free end portion of each strip outwardly of'the first named fastener elements thereon adapted to'be detachably engaged with the fastenerelements on the rear sheet to secure said rear sheet to the strips for direct suspension of the second sheet from said strips;

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,447,126 Dwyer Feb. 27, 1923 2,317,074 Midas Apr. 20, 1943 2,609,043 Dubinsky Sept. 2, 1952 

